Program Overview

The Database Administration Graduate Certificate is an exciting certificate program that offers students not only an excellent education in this critical area of IT, but also provides a great head start toward moving into an MIS master's degree. The program was developed in consultation with the Metropolitan State MIS Advisory Committee (MISAC) and the Center for Strategic Information Technology and Security (AdvanceIT), a Metropolitan State University Center of Excellence. The Committee and the Center supported the curriculum development and design as being consistent with our vision for graduate education in Database Administration.

This program is designed to provide both strategic and operational expertise in the administration of database and related technologies, and to provide a strong background and ability to use databases and related systems in providing strategic advantage to modern firms OK The DA Certificate program is designed based on a review of national standards for this area, including those from the Data Management Association International Foundation Committee on the Advancement of Data Management in Post Secondary Institutions, and the database administration components of the MSIS (Masters of Science in Information Systems) 2006 standards developed in conjunction with the ACM (Association of Computing Machinery).

Program Outcomes

The expected outcomes include

improved preparation for management in an increasingly information-intensive world,

ability to develop organizational strategies based on using MIS as competitive tools, and

broadening of your knowledge of MIS management areas, including project management, and of MIS technology and its application.

If the MIS Director determines that you have full prior competence in a certificate course, you may be given credit for the competency and allowed to take sufficient alternate credits to meet the total credit requirement of the certificate (e.g. if you have completed a graduate 4 credit Project Management course that is accepted, you would be allowed to consider that function completed within the Certificate, and can then take an alternate 4 credits, agreed upon with the Director).

Admission Criteria/Process

Admission Decisions/Categories

The College of Management Graduate Admissions Committee evaluates your application for evidence of undergraduate scholarship, professional experience and demonstrated aptitude for successful graduate business study. If you meet all application requirements, you are given full admission to the program. If you have one or more prerequisite courses to complete and your application otherwise supports the conclusion that you can successfully undertake graduate study, you may be granted conditional admission to a program. As a conditionally-admitted student, you must complete these prerequisites prior to completing any graduate course work. Applicants denied admission may not take graduate level courses in the program.

Registration by Undergraduate Students

With permission of the MMIS Director, you may register for "special" graduate level prerequisite courses during your last semester of undergraduate studies.

Reapplication for Denied Applicants

If your application for admission to the program is denied, you may reapply for admission only after a minimum of six months has passed after the denial. You will need to demonstrate a substantive difference in the reapplication to be considered for admission.

If your application to the program is denied, you may apply for another College of Management graduate program. A new application form must be accompanied by the application fee, a new goals essay, updated resume, two new references and GMAT scores and/or assessment test scores appropriate to the degree for which you are applying.

English and Quantitative Competence Assessment

All College of Management students, except those in special international cohort programs, are expected to demonstrate English and quantitative competence at a level to support success in graduate studies. If your abilities are assessed to be inadequate for graduate study, you may be required to enroll in appropriate undergraduate courses until your skills have been brought to a satisfactory level. These undergraduate courses must be successfully completed prior to taking any graduate level courses.

COM Graduate Student Orientation

Once you are fully admitted to a College of Management graduate program you will be required to attend a graduate student orientation session before or during your first semester of course work. If you do not attend an orientation session, a hold will be placed on your records preventing you from registering for further graduate classes until you attend orientation.

Application Requirements

Applicants should allow 7-10 business days for review once all required application materials are received and sent to the College of Management Graduate Admissions Committee.

To be considered for admission you must submit:

Application

Non-refundable application fee

Official transcripts

Test scores

Current resume

Goals essay

References

See Applying to the Program for application packets, details on the requirements, deadlines and International Student application requirements.

Transfer Credits

Once fully admitted, you may transfer up to 8 credits into your graduate program. A course is accepted in transfer only if it has been completed within the last five years from an accredited institution, no degree was granted, and a letter grade of B or better was earned in the course. Courses are accepted in transfer only upon the approval of the Graduate Programs Director in consultation with discipline coordinators.

Academic Standing

Students must remain in satisfactory academic standing to continue in a College of Management master's degree or graduate certificate program. Only courses for which they receive a letter grade of C (2.0) or better count toward degree or certificate requirements. The option of a competence/no competence with a narrative transcript is not available to College of Management graduate students. A cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 and passing grades (i.e., C or better) for all required courses included in any graduate or certificate programs are required for graduation. Academic standing is calculated at the end of each semester.

Students receiving a letter grade of C+ or below in any graduate course, or who have a cumulative GPA that drops below 3.0, will be placed on academic probation. They will be removed from academic probation when their cumulative GPA rises above 3.0 and they have repeated and passed any required courses for which they received an F.

Required courses for which a student receives an F must be repeated and passed in order to graduate. College of Management master’s and graduate certificate students may repeat courses if they receive a grade of C or C+, upon approval of the Graduate Studies Director. If a course is repeated once, only the higher grade is used in computing the grade point average. If a course is repeated a second time, the grade point average includes grades earned in both of the repeat attempts. No course may be taken more than three times.

Dismissal From the Program Due to Unsatisfactory Academic Standing

Students who receive a grade of F in a required course must re-take the course and pass it in order to complete their program and graduate. They have up to one year from the time an F was received to re-take the course. Failure to do so may result in dismissal from the program. If a student who received an F cannot complete the course with a passing grade within the two allowable re-takes, they will be dismissed from the program.

Appeal of Removal from the Program Due to Unsatisfactory Academic Standing

Students who are removed from the program may appeal their removal to the College of Management Dean. The appeal must be made in writing and provide specific grounds for the appeal. The appeal is due to the Dean within 30 days of the date of the letter notifying them of the decision to remove them from the program. The Dean has 30 days to respond in writing to the appeal. Appeals received after 30 days will not be considered.

Readmission after Dismissal

Students who have been dismissed from a graduate program may apply for readmission no sooner than one calendar year after the last semester of study. To reapply, they have to complete the same process that was required for their initial admission and they must meet all the requirements of the Program as of their time of readmission. Readmission decisions are not automatic.

Time to Completion

You have two years from your first semester of graduate study to complete your certificate program requirements. You may request an extension of the time limit by writing to the College of Management Graduate Programs Office. Such requests must be received prior to the expiration of the time limit. Requests for extensions should include your reason(s) for requesting the extension, a summary of your plan to finish graduation requirements, and a specific date for the extension to expire. Extension decisions are made by the College of Management Graduate Admissions Committee and are not automatic.

Accreditation

Metropolitan State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Faculty

Resident faculty members are primarily:

Holders of doctoral degrees in their fields

Authors of applied and refereed publications

Experienced in their academic fields.

Additionally, the College of Management has a strong community faculty who are fully committed to educational excellence. All community faculty have graduate degrees, either a master’s or a doctorate, as well as business expertise in their fields. The College of Management assures the quality of its community faculty through a careful selection process, extensive training through our own Teaching Academy, and regular student evaluations.